Collagesity 2016-2017 Winter 04

New Leaves

“It’s time to take off your mask, Librarian,” speaks a freshly arrived Wheeler. “I have learned information concerning you from an old witch named Mid Hazel over at New Island.”

“Alright,” he relented. “I know Mid Hazel and her ways. But when I reveal who I am you must change as well. We must do it in concert. Ready?…”

“Don’t play that one two three game with me,” demands Wheeler. “Just remove the mask.”

He did.

And she did.

“As people like us say,” the transmogrified Wheeler pronounces, “we meet again.”

Fell a Victim

“But I don’t understand,” says Keat Owens The Librarian. “David Bowie seems like a good and decent guy. You are just *evil*.”

“David Bowie played with demons and you are what you eat,” explained Wheeler. “If you are a lemon and consume sugar cubes you turn into lemonade. It was inevitable. This is one path split in two. Just like you.”

“Curious. Do you have a copy of “Valis” in your library here? Or in the other library?”

“Why are you asking *me*?…”

“… *Librarian*,” they both said together. They even shared a smile for split second.

Information

“Turns out Unch and The Librarian might be one and the same. Keat Owens The Librarian is, underneath it all, what’s called a giant besalisk, a 4 handed version. It’s the involved salamander lineage that doesn’t allow him to be burned, thus the perfect nemesis for firestarter Jerome T. Newton, who we also know now is another version of Wheeler. The ash grey marble hands were a prop.”

“This just gets stranger and stranger,” returns Old Mabel. “The Woods are too peculiar. They could easily drive one mad with their continual twisty turny ways.”

“Yes,” states Baker, also noticing that Old Mabel didn’t mention anything about moving *away* from said woods. She was engaged for certain.

“It came with the place,” clarified Furry Karl the bartender. “Let’s see, that would be 2005. Old Kringles.” He chuckled, thinking of the good demon he bought the bar from while it was still over in Rubi. “Quite the character. Wore a cow bell around his neck at all times.”

“This must be from the original village. But I thought it was destroyed.”

“Nope,” states Karl plainly. “There it is. You can see it with your dead peepers right in front of you.”

“Could be a copy, a duplicate,” speculated Baker.

“Well, could a copy do *this*?” Karl touches the object and produces a shower of shamrocks.

“Maybe,” says Baker.

“No, this is the sign. *The* sign. The one turned over and thrown aside during the ’68 robolution. A turning point in our history and time.”

“You said robolution there, Furry Karl. Did you mean revolution?”

“It was what it was.”

—–

Old Mabel dug deeper into the mystery of the belalisk at the town library. Journal 2 contained some information, but she was determined to find more. A particular pattern in another part of the book also caught her attention this night of playing “stay awake as long as possible to avoid dreaming”. The book just fell open at the page while she was trying to push it away from her to lay her head on the table. A yawn quickly turned into a gasp. “The portal in my dreams?”

But it was too late. Already sound asleep, the monsters arrived quickly.

Bee(r) Talk

“Big game’s coming up Sunday. Who’re you rooting for?”

“I can hear the sound of bees in my hand.”

No. Nine

Old Mabel takes a break from listening to Beetles music to write in her journal.

Dear Journal,

Yesterday we learned that the masked Librarian who has been sitting at The Table for one month is actually supposedly deceased detective/chef Keat Owens, who is actually and *really* a giant 4 handed fireproof creature (besalisk) named Dutch. Dutch also knows Unch, but we don’t understand the exact relationship yet. Wheeler is musician David Bowie is grey alien Jerome T. Newton.

I continue to have cursed dreams. A huge lusty red robot named Steve looming over the Collagesity public library and wishing to chat about robolution and ballerinas. Caucasian Tommy Brade and Even Whiter Walt at a bar talking sports and drugs on Meeting Flat, where I first saw Unch. So many more — the oval portal, yes. I think it is controlled now by plant people mentioned in Journal 2, which may be the same as the forest trees, or perhaps a particular species, maybe the eucalyptus, or maybe just the *big* eucalyptus. Or maybe just the big eucalyptus at 125/125.

My feelings for Baker Bloch continue in a different direction. He stayed with me until sunset day before yesterday, when I had a little, I mean, a tiny too much to drink. He did not hold me. 😦 I haven’t heard from Jiff or his girlfriend Brenda in over a week. Carrcassonnee — yes, I’ve dreamed about her as well. She wishes to communicate, obviously. She has wise words to say about Unch.

The Great Wall is an asp.

That is all for now. Goodbye and goodnight.

(I forgot to mention Lucky. Another night.)

Dream

“Oh dear. Still there,” says Old Mabel, walking around her Minoan home this morning. That could only mean one thing.

She continues to circumnavigate the grounds…

Front gate.

… then spies this new spectacle just past the lighthouse. A big colorful, half hidden eye…

… whose pupil flickered back and forth at a rapid pace. It sat just above and beyond a side gate of the property leading to Collagesity North. The formerly closed portal was now open.

A huge blue whale flew over her head as she was pondering whether to pass through the gate, briefly blocking out the sun.

The eye both beckoned and warned. What would she choose?

—–

Old Mabel woke up. She had nodded off while listening to Beetles music again and working on another page of her journal (concerning Lucky). Across from her stood a brown being whose head almost touched the ceiling.

Old Mabel removed her headphones, which were blaring out Lennon’s “No. Nine Dream” off his “Walls and Bridges” solo project from the mid-70s. “Dutch, I presume,” she said, feigning calm amidst the surprise appearance.

Who else?” he said in a deep voice appropriate for his size and raising all four hands simultaneously.

Stuck

As Dutch advised, she was beyond the gate now, but caught in some kind of solid growth of pink flowers.

On the far edge of the flowers from the gate was lodged the marble head of Dutch’s human form: Detective/Chef Keat Owens, who everyone thought was burned to death in Collagesity North by grey alien Jerome T. Newton over a week back.

Turns out the marble hands left behind were only a prop. And now Old Mabel, in a dream state, has uncovered the accompanying stone head. But she can progress no further tonight, although she caught a glimpse of this green table just beyond the entrapping flowers.

Slide ‘n’ Glide

“Dutch has appeared to me several times in reality. None in dreams. That’s kind of odd in itself.”

“Maybe,” returns Baker Bloch. He was nursing a bottle of Honey Brown lager. Old Mabel was trying out the bar’s green tea and finding it acceptable. Rhoda was subbing in for an under-the-weather Furry Karl tonight, which was surprising to Baker. “Rhoda?” he said, drawing the cyan ovoid flattie toward him.

“Yes sir. What’ll it be?”

“No, I’m fine with my lager still. I’m just wondering.” He paused, thinking about how to put it, and then just blurting the idea out. “I… I thought you were dead.”

“No sir. Just working in another town. Bennington… ever heard of it?”

“Through Furry Karl, yeah. But weren’t you kind of, um, merged with the ballerina and Starbucaneer and then killed by that airplane crashing into the latter’s establishment about 3 months back?”

Rhoda thought hard. He did remember dying now. Several times. Many times. “I’ve been shot, stabbed, burned, crushed. Yes, I now recall that part of my existence. It all started back in Bennington with my head being sliced in two by Old Kent. You know, the shark. The thing with the fin on his back. The one who has trouble walking around on land. Has to slide and all.”

Rhoda helped him out once more. “I’m also peculiar because I’m a true flattie in reality and also here in this Second Lyfe of yours. Unlike, say, your Tin S. Man, your Spongebob or, um, well Furry Karl, although he doesn’t have fur in the real world.” Rhoda thought of a better example. “And *like*, say, Lisa Simpson.”

Baker thought back to how many other “12 Oz Mouse” characters had appeared in Collagesity, and how they compared to Rhoda’s appearance in same. There’s Old Kent, obviously, although he’s more actual shark-like here. Then Carrcassonee herself claims to be Fitz Mouse, the star of the show. And she says that her Spider is another incarnation of Fitz’s sidekick Skillet, although Spider is a chihuahua and Skillet is a squirrel. He thought. Baker then just posed the question to Rhoda.

“Bennington, yeah,” replied Rhoda, who had begun moving away from Baker and Old Mabel but then returned.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me,” Old Mabel said. “I’ve got to run over to the Bodega market across the way and get some bread before I return home.” In truth, she was getting a little frustrated by Baker’s lack of focus tonight. She had important things to mull over about Dutch before starting to dream tonight, which was inevitable. Could she truly pass through the eastern gates of her home later tonight in dreams and find out what Dutch had been calling a “secret society”?

“Alright Old Mabel,” responded Baker. I’ll walk you home afterwards.” He again noticed the headphones around her neck. “How’s the Beetles listening going?”

Old Mabel was glad to have the attention shift back to her. “Fine, fine. I’m up to ‘Walls and Bridges’ now in my circumnavigation of John Lennon’s solo material. “Then it’ll be back to ‘Plastic Ono Band’ for another pass. Per your recommendation I skipped over the Ono tainted ‘Some Time in New York (City),’ despite the flattie recently appearing in the Blue Feather having that t-shirt.”

“The New York City t-shirt, yeah,” clarifies Baker. He was there when the Mykall Skall flattie appeared basically out of nowhere, matching the manifestation of Lennon and the rest of the Beetles walking Abbey Road on the wall into the Table Room. “Lennon knows about us.”

“I *know*,” states Old Mabel, getting excited about that idea again.

Rhoda had moved away now. Talk about Bennington and his fellow citizens could wait for another night. Plus: how to even explain it all? “Anything else for you bud?” he asked the back of Curled Paper’s Heineken loving nephew Raymond while passing by. No answer. “Guess not.” Rhoda continued gliding toward the far corner of the bar to start locking up for the night.

Try 02

Armed with a golf club Dutch had recommended, Old Mabel was now past the pink flowers and at the west mouth of the big log. She peered down the circular tunnel, ready for action. But no demons appeared within or on the other side.

Instead her attention was drawn to the dust bunny fairy house Dutch had also told her about.

She cautiously walked up to the door…

… and found Keat Owens as The Joker beside it, just as Dutch had described. But she then somehow got caught back inside the log while trying to approach him.

—–

Old Mabel woke up. She’d have to try again another night.

Doorstep

She’d made it to the fairy house! All Old Mabel had to do was switch out a wood with an iron. Simple. “Hello in there,” she spoke to Keat Owens The Joker positioned beside the door. “Anyone home?” No answer. She gently tapped her iron several times against his chest.

“Stop doing that and get inside,” a muffled voice then issued from within. Old Mabel retracted the iron. Keat Owens’ face remained motionless behind the Joker card. “They’re waiting for you. *I* waited for you. Go ahead, go on….” Old Mabel heeded the command.

She noticed a picture of a cartoon man with yellow hair above the green table in the side yard before ascending the stairs.

“Roostre,” she said while waking up.

—–

“Next time I’m just going to walk into the fairy house, Baker Bloch, and not attempt communication with The Joker.”

“Probably a good idea,” Baker responded. He was trying out a black beer tonight. “Incremental entry. I don’t think I’ve personally had a dream like that. Serial.” Something then seemed to be clawing on the roof of the bar. “What’s that?”

“Um, probably just the wind?” But Old Mabel had started looking around for a light switch.

Rhoda knew what it was. And he knew about Roostre. He wisely kept his mouth shut concerning all that mentioned stuff tonight. Dreams, pheh.

VW(X)

“Yes come in. Quickly, quickly,” another Keat Owens implored from within the fairy house. “There’s mysteries to solve. No doddling dear — there’s been enough of that. Well, come in,” he said again. “Leave the golf club outside, yes.”

Old Mabel goes up the stairs and then leans the iron gently against the house just outside its railing. Taking one last glance over at Keat Owens Joker, she passes through the door she just opened.

—–

“Yes, well…?” a similarly rushed Baker Bloch asks later at the Joker’s Wild Bar. Furry Karl was still under the weather. Rhoda remained the bartender for now.

“We stared at the Nautilus City map for a while. The position of Doreena, Yvonne, and, um, this new person or entity we haven’t heard about before named Anton, were marked with red pins. Keat Owens Jack, as we’ll call him…”

“… because his suit is like Jack’s across the way…”

“Right, Baker Bloch. So this Keat Owens Jack then says Doreena has unexpectedly changed her name and appearance, and that this is more work of Mid Hazel the witch. Her “do’n’s” is how he put it. And Spider was in the corner of the small room beside us; forgot to mention that. He’s still spouting out or uttering or speaking those 4 numbers over and over, like you described before when he was with Carrcassonnee.”

“Slightly before your time here in Collagesity, yes. Interesting. When did you wake up?”

“I was just staring at the pin representing Anton — more at my eye level — and a picture of what you call a Volkswagen Beatle at the bottom of the sea entered my mind. I stared at the completely algae covered car for quite some time. It was sad. Then I was jolted back to reality by the start of ‘Revolution No. 1’ on my player. That’s from the ‘White Album’. The more graceful ‘Long Long Long’ precedes it there. Then afterwards we have ‘Honey Pie’ and the horn laden ‘Savoy Truffle’.”

Old Mabel’s really getting into this Beetles reseach, Baker then thinks. Too absorbed? Well, she’s preparing for the next Table meeting, which is scheduled for tomorrow night if Wheeler can pry herself away from her new infatuation — her New Island. That seems to be a danger: Wheeler may be imprisoned by this new threat named Mid Hazel forever and ever on that island. Baker then noticed Old Mabel is staring at him.

“Thinking about other things?” she asks.

More

He was at the table now, asking me to join him on his side. We were done with the Nautilus City map. He said we were waiting for someone but wouldn’t say who. He said we could play chess against the house in the meantime. I imagined both of us leaning against the outside of the fairy building, awkwardly holding a board between us. I told him this vision. He said, “No, against *the house*.” He waved his arms all around. A chessboard then appeared on the table before us, white pawn moved to King 4 in an opening move. “I’ve never able to beat her myself,” says this new Keat Owens. “But maybe with your help we can give her a run for her money. And she *is* expensive, my dear.” I told him I didn’t know how to play chess, and we do not have that game on Mars where I’m from. He said he’d do most of the work. It was over in 13 moves. The board disappeared. The new Keat Owens cussed a word I won’t repeat here. I didn’t learn a lot about the game except to note the power of the pieces and the general nature of their motions. I knew that the Queen was the most powerful and not to be f*cked with, to use the language of Owens. Then a person I had met once before came into the room, an ovoid portal appearing on his or her head chest.

Walls

“Let’s see. What book did you say you were looking for Old Mabel? Hee hee.”

After walking around the walls and ceiling of the fairy house for a couple of minutes to demonstrate her powers, Urch then showed them another mystery out in the side yard.

The picture of the flaming yellow haired cartoon was gone. One depicting brick walls took its place, a maze of walls, actually, that you could *move around in*. Urch described it as the vast grounds of Rooster Springs Backwoods Institute, where she claimed to have attended school back in the ’60s. “Psychedelic days,” she called them. “Secured my kaleidoscope eyes there.” Old Mabel gasped at this.

As she navigated the seemingly endless maze while Old Mabel and Keat Owens looked on (a*mazed* — sorry), Urch revealed she’s been searching for something within for quite some time now. “Let’s call it a key to unlocking a man trapped in a Santa suit,” she explained. This made Old Mabel think of Jiff and the queer Santa demon he saw a couple weeks ago. While she was pondering this association, she realized Urch had stopped moving around the maze to turn and stare at her. “You know something.”

“Often right here, but it’s late in the night, almost dawn. To quote Billy Corgan: ‘They only come out at night.'”

“Close enough. Speaking of which,” says Wheeler. “I must begin preparing for the next Table meeting.”

“So you’re going with the forward Pumpkintwisters direction?” Wheeler nods. “Over the backwards Billfork direction?” Wheeler keeps nodding. Keat Owens reapplies one of his hands to his chin in a thoughtful manner. “There’s one more avatar we’re keeping an eye on, only known as Anton. I don’t have a direct landmark yet but he’s in Anson. Obviously another one named for their inhabiting sim. We’ll have to approximate (the landmark).”

—–

Not what they were expecting.

—–

Afterwards:

“Damn! Crashed again.”

Just after that:

—–

* Doflia:

Table Meeting 02

For Table Meeting No. 2, Baker Bloch arrived at the Blue Feather in his self named Spookmobile, almost running over Old Mabel and Hucka Doobie while humming down Old Cannon Road from his attic home in the western part of town. Baker apologized to the two while they were walking up behind him, nerves rattled.

“You know it’s only about 100 yards from your place to the Blue Feather,” says Hucka Doobie, still dusting herself off from diving behind Major Stone to avoid being hit. “You don’t really need to drive. What is that thing anyway? Where’d you get it?”

Baker Bloch realized Hucka Doobie wasn’t inworld all that much and hadn’t caught up with the news. So he caught her up.

“Fascinating,” says Hucka Doobie afterwards. Anson and Anton. Yet another one. *Must* be the work of Mid Hazel.”

“And we further speculate that Wheeler is trapped on New Island now, unable to escape. I’d take you there to see the broken bridge but the meeting’s starting up in a moment.”

“Cool, I suppose,” says Hucka Doobie, still a bit in the dark on things. Old Mabel remained silent, not liking where this was, er, heading.

—–

“As most of you know,” Baker began, “Wheeler’s wishes were to move forward instead of backwards. Toward ‘Pumpkintwisters’ and the future instead of ‘Billfork’ and its Northfork and Billville in the past. *But*… Wheeler isn’t here.”

Old Mabel suddenly perked up. Could it be? Could it be?

“So we’re going to talk about ‘Billfork’ tonight.”

Old Mabel actually jumped out of her chair a bit in joy. She had been preparing to discuss ‘Billfork’ for weeks now, listening to all the pertinent John Lennon solo efforts and reading up about the Ono debacle and so forth.

“Now I’m sorry Tin S. Man. I know this was your time to shine.”

“‘T’is okay, Baker Bloch. The Ray Davies inside of me can wait. I am sympathetic to the plight of Northfork and Billville both. Both flooded, both moved. A moving tale each.” he smiled.

“Yes,” agreed Baker. “So since we’re backing up from ‘3 Friends of Belleville’ instead of going forward, we can point out that *Belle*ville camed from *Bill*ville — and also visa versa since time really doesn’t exist. This is part of the overarching complexity of the Piera. Old Mabel, do you want to help me out and pull up some pertinent videos on the interwebs? Try ‘Northfork + Polish’.”

“Sure thing, Wilson.” Everyone stared at her. “I mean, Baker Bloch, tee hee. Slip of the tongue.” She went over to the suave chair she had sat in so many times now and did the appropriate search.

“So what is ‘Billfork’ you might be asking?” then said Baker Bloch. “Well, on the audio side it’s primarily ‘Boom Dot Bust’ by Firesign Theatre. On the video side it’s the movie ‘Northfork’ by the Polish twins, Michael and Mark. As Tin S. Man alluded to, both feature towns that have to be moved in order to be saved. The town of Northfork is being flooded by a new lake. Billville is threatened by tornadoes, and also, strangely and syncily, a flood at the end, where the mayor has to turn into a fish and ‘swim, swim, swim’ to stay alive. Tonight, to begin, we’re going to look at a number of clips from ‘Northfork’ which are available on the Youtubes. We’re just going to look at them as they appear in Old Mabel’s hit list here, and I’ll talk about the relationship with ‘Billfork’ afterwards — I don’t think we need to do them in order. So if you would just start at the top of your list, Old Mabel, and work down.”

“Yes *sir*”.

—–

2 1/2 hours later they had gone through innumerable Youtube videos featuring not only ‘Northfork’, but Firesign Theatre, Pink Floyd, and John Lennon and his Beetles. Even Old Mabel was getting a little tired. But they had learned a lot. They knew ‘Billfork’ contained some kind of code which Baker Bloch simply dubbed the Billfork Code during the meeting, having come up with that name several hours prior. Baker had passed out most of the 8 oranges Old Mabel dreamt about to participants at The Table this night, setting the remainder at empty seats while saying that each represented a whole track from ‘Boom Dot Bust’ used in ‘Billfork’. Old Mabel grasped hers tightly as Baker handed it to her, making sure she didn’t fumble it this time (unlike in the dream). “Now I know we’re all tired,” Baker continued, “but we need to also talk about the 9th tonight. The 9th is ‘Doom Bot Dust’, the opposite of ‘Boom Dot Bust’. And that’s where we think the code comes from. A south by southwest direction.” Old Mabel nodded her head in agreement as she looked past Hucka Doobie in that direction.

AFTERWARDS…

… Baker Bloch bought Old Mabel and Hucka Doobie dinner at Perch to make up for almost killing them with his Spookmobile several hours earlier. The catch of the day was… perch. All ordered it. All complimented the chef (Keat Owens: back on the job!). Baker Bloch and Hucka Doobie talked of old times in the White Palace. Hucka told Old Mabel some of the story about Greenhead in Real Lyfe, where he was originally from.

“The bees and the humans from down south in Whitehead Crossing originally got on,” he explains, “but then came Uncle Joe and Aunt Zoe, the *bad* humans or human*villains*.

“Nice pun,” adds Baker Bloch.

“Thanks,” replies Hucka Doobie. “We had to seal up the hole. Thus opened up the hole more near Whitehead Crossing, but later on. It was merged with Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, the biggest hole we could find up there — perhaps you’ve seen the related collage, no?” He turns to Baker Bloch for a possible answer.

“I don’t know.” Baker, in turn, turns to Old Mabel. “How far up have you been in the Fal Mouth Moon?”

Old Mabel realizes she hasn’t ascended past the 2nd or 3rd floor of the 7 story building, the largest in Collagesity. “Not all the way,” she admits.

“The collage Hucka Doobie is referring to is at the very tip top,” he then says.

“Field trip!” yelps Hucka Doobie, noisily plopping his knife and fork down on a plate filled with perch skeletons.

—–

“There it is Old Mabel,” Baker Bloch says, indicating the Whitehead Crossing hole Hucka Doobie referenced earlier. Old Mabel sits down directly in front of it for further study. Hucka Doobie is looking at an image of an oblong blue “12 Oz Mouse character” partially hidden by a Crossing tree.

Old Mabel coincidentally stares at the same character positioned in front of the hole, full figure this time. Both mouth the same thought at the same time.

“A peanut?”

—–

“And of course there’s Rhoda, a bartender in our world and that world both,” explains Baker Bloch further along in his “12 Oz Mouse” spiel. “I’m not sure if he’s been up this far in the Fal Mouth Moon either. Have to make a mental note to ask him the next time we’re over at Joker’s Wild.”

“So there’s Carrcassonnee as Fitz the Mouse himself staring at Peanut,” says Baker Bloch to Old Mabel, seeing her still interested in that part of the collage. “He’s holding a corndog. That’s reference to Roostre.”

“What did you say?”

“I said, that’s reference to the Roostre character of ’12 Oz Mouse’.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this *Roostre* before?” she demanded.

MORE AFTERWARDS…

… Old Mabel finds out more about Roostre in returning to the Blue Feather Table Room. A *lot* more. She didn’t uncover the crucial Q109-R110 link, which Robot Steve would tell her about later on in a dream. But she, for instance, learned the origin of the name Muff-Bermingham. She thought back to the opening in Corsica that allowed Snowmanster to escape a firey death at the hands of Jerome T. Newton. It was all starting to add up. To something.

—-

EVEN MORE AFTERWARDS…

… “ARE YOU HAPPY?” Steve boomed down at her, still holding the poor clockwork ballerina in his metal claw. “I AM.”

Bridges

“I guess this is goodbye Baker Bloch.”

“Not forever Wheeler. Just until we can figure out how to deal with you and Mid Hazel. Baker Blinker, Hucka Doobie and I.”

“Tell Baker Blinker congratulations on the land sale. Oh, one last thing. I want to say goodbye to Old Mabel as well.”

“Very well.” He changes.

“My car disappeared,” starts Old Mabel.

“Never mind that *young* Martian. You can rezz another one over there on Mid Hazel’s property.” She turns around and points.

“I hope that, at the least, you do not consider me a mortal enemy. I only used the Wilson mask as needed. I am truly David Bowie underneath it all.”

“Are you?” asks a still skeptical Old Mabel.

“I guess that’s what we’ll find out. Come over here now and rezz another car and skedaddle back to your Heterocera.” She walks forward, and Old Mabel follows. “Just through these pillars.”

“No,” says Old Mabel firmly, sensing a possible trap. “I’ll rezz the car from this position. I see the property lines.”

The Spookmobile appears above the “B” on the wooden platform. Old Mabel hops in remotely.

“You better change back into Baker Bloch or you might not be able to reach the pedals.”

“Oh right,” states Old Mabel, and she transforms once more. But Baker then has to stand up again and sit back into the car to fit properly. Mid Hazel’s plan had worked (of course).

Baker Bloch steers the car toward Wheeler and runs into her, moving her about 5 feet up and sideways both. Smiling, he drives up beside her again.

“Aw, what the heck,” he says, already under the spell. “Hop in. Let’s go see that (boy) Karoz of yours. Just for a little bit.”

“Just for a little bit,” reiterates Wheeler.

As they sloppily made their way back onto Highway 9, the only bridge into New Island remained open…